OBS. 16.—­These writers do not seem to accord with W. L. Stone, the editor above quoted, nor would his reasoning apply well to several of their examples.  Yet both opinions are right, if neither be carried too far.  For when the words are in apposition, rather than in composition, the first name or title must be made plural, if it refers to more than one:  as, “The Misses Bell and Brown,”—­“Messrs. Lambert and Son,”—­“The Lords Calthorpe and Erskine,”—­“The Lords Bishops of Durham and St. David’s,”—­“The Knights Hospitalers,”—­“The Knights Templars,”—­“The Knights Baronets.”  But this does not prove the other construction, which varies the last word only, to be irregular; and, if it did, there is abundant authority for it.  Nor is that which varies the first only, to be altogether condemned, though Dr. Priestley is unquestionably wrong respecting the “strict analogy” of which he speaks.  The joining of a plural title to one singular noun, as, “Misses Roy,”—­“The Misses Bell,”—­“The two Misses Thomson,” produces a phrase which is in itself the least analogous of the three; but, “The Misses Jane and Eliza Bell,” is a phrase which nobody perhaps will undertake to amend.  It appears, then, that each of these forms of expression may be right in some cases; and each of them may be wrong, if improperly substituted for either of the others.

OBS. 17.—­The following statements, though erroneous in several particulars, will show the opinions of some other grammarians, upon the foregoing point:  “Proper nouns have the plural only when they refer to a race or family; as, The Campbells; or to several persons of the same name; as, The eight Henrys; the two Mr. Sells; the two Miss Browns; or, without the numeral, the Miss Roys. But in addressing letters in which both or all are equally concerned, and also when the names are different, we pluralize the title, (Mr. or Miss,) and write, Misses Brown; Misses Roy; Messrs, (for Messieurs, Fr.) Guthrie and Tait."_—­Lennie’s Gram._, p. 7.  “If we wish to distinguish the unmarried from the married Howards, we call them the Miss Howards. If we wish to distinguish these Misses from other Misses, we call them the Misses Howard.”—­Fowle’s Gram. “To distinguish several persons of the same name and family from others of a different name and family, the title, and not the proper name, is varied to express the distinction; as, the Misses Story, the Messrs. Story.  The elliptical meaning is, the Misses and Messrs, who are named Story.  To distinguish unmarried from married ladies, the proper name, and not the title, should be varied; as, the Miss Clarks.  When we mention more than one person of different names, the title should be expressed before each; as, Miss Burns, Miss Parker, and Miss Hopkinson, were present.”—­Sanborn’s Gram., p. 79.  In the following examples from Pope’s Works, the last word only is varied:  “He paragons himself to two Lord Chancellors for law.”—­Vol. iii, p. 61.  “Yearly panegyrics upon the Lord Mayors.”—­Ib., p. 83.